Hao
by Vain Ambitions
Summary: The story about Hao's wife in his second life. A bit of HaoXAnna.


_**Hi everyone! I must say that this is a very looong one-shot... But anyway, please do enjoy.**_

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Anna.

What a beautiful name.

Hao sat on the wet grass field on a hill overlooking the Asakuras. It had just rained, so it's a bit cold. It's good that Spirit of Fire is here to warm him up. He cuddled up closer together with Spirit of Fire, and continued his watch. His eyes, his every observation were on this particular girl.

"Anna." He said the name out loud. How smoothly the words came out of his mouth, and the feelings of the teeth on his tongue, everything about this name was lovely.

That other woman, was her name something like that too?

"Ann." Boomed Spirit of Fire's low voice. Hao smiled. Nowadays he seemed to need Spirit of Fire to remind him of some small details of his life.

Right, Ann. An equally lovely name. How could he have forgotten?

Hao curled his lips upwards in reminiscence, and, with the help of Spirit of Fire, flashbacked to his past life, where he first met Ann.

* * *

It was in his second life, when he was reincarnated into a Patch Tribe member, that he met Ann. They had a sort of congregation for every member of the Patch Tribe. It was massive gathering, and very festive. They had even invited dancers and musicians, and even brought their tents over.

Hao was sitting in one dark corner, observing everyone.

A group of despicable men talking, laughing with each other, who were thinking of betraying their childhood best friend. _Ishiguro that bastard, he had risen to a higher status than me, even though it was me, I was the one that were doing most of the job. When we started off we were in the same level, he must have done some trick to get to this high a status. They all say he's talented, well, I'll make them see who's the most talented one here. And I will make Ishiguro cry like a girl._

A couple of men that were introducing themselves to the lord, aka kissing the lord's ass. _I hate this guy. I am smiling so bright, flattering him everywhere, just because he is a lord. Look at his face, it's disgusting. Can't believe I even have to say how great his son is. Look how fat and hopeless he is! Argh once I'm done with this, I'd better get a good promotion. Fuck you, asshole. You think I don't dare to say it in your face? Once I'm promoted to a higher rank than you, I'll definitely banish you out of this town._

The group of women dancing trying to gain the rich guy's attention. _Oh my god he's looking at me! He's a patch tribe member, so he is probably very rich! Oh my, I'd better lift my butt higher. Maybe I need to pull up these overalls a bit to reveal a bit more..._

Disgusting. Utterly disgusting. Every single one of them.

Hao skimmed through everyone's heart comtemptously. But there was one particular one, that did not have any negative connotation. Hao focused on that girl that was dancing. Everything on her head was the music that was playing, the rythmn, the beat of the drum, the movements of the dance, it was as if she was immersed into the whole music, with her head filled with nothing, nothing at all, but the music.

Hao's mouth curled further up, as he watched the girl dance, with her eyes closed, her body moving naturally to every beat of the music, her whole head concentrating on what she was doing. This was the first time that someone's heart can be so empty.

Hao watched the other dancers. _He's looking at her now, okay, I'll move my hands like this... / I've caught this guy. Great, I'll do this next to keep him hooked..._

He stared at them sardonically. No wonder they were sickening, both in their way of dancing and character. He concluded that in order to dance properly, one must first immerse into the music and think of nothing else. Actually, the same goes for everything. Humans, think too much. That was what makes them loathsome.

However, there is an exception now.

The music stopped, and the girls started to leave to their tent. Hao watched as the girl wiped her sweat, smiling contently.

Somehow, he was in front of the girl. His body seemed to be moving by itself. "You're...Ann, right?"

The girl blinked. _How does he know my name?_ "And you are?" She answered back coolly.

Hao smiled. Everytime when he talked to other humans, their heart will generate a whole load of disgusting thoughts. This girl, however, did not have a whole bunch of words in her heart, like the others. There was just feelings, pure, quiet, feelings with little words. "Hao Asakura."

_A Patch Tribe member?Eh, didn't Rachel wanted to meet a Patch Tribe member? They must be nice guys I guess. _The girl smiled. _What am I supposed to say to a Patch Tribe member? _"Nice to meet you."

Hao chuckled. "Nice to meet you too."

The girl blushed. _He laughed! What is this feeling I am getting? _"S...so, what is it that you want?" She said, trying to keep her cool. _Hope he don't see my blood rushing up my face…how embarrassing…_

Hao smiled. This girl, she was getting cuter and cuter every second. Her thoughts were so innocent.

"Nothing. Just wanted to say that you danced really well just now."

_I…danced well? _The girl flushed. "Thanks." She said gracefully. _This is the first time someone said that to me! _

Hao laughed as the girl's face reddened. "Do you mind if we talk?"

_Talk? But I still have to remove my makeup...Oh it's okay I guess, he's a rather nice guy. _"Okay."

"Come." Hao nodded to the place that he had been sitting all along, and led Ann to it.

* * *

"So, you're going to be a Shaman King, and make the world a better place?"

"Yup."

"But how'd you know you'll be a Shaman King? What if someone beat you?"

"Well, that'd be impossible."

Ann laughed. _This guy is so proud. Oh well, keeping hopes high is pretty important._

"So what are you going to do, after becoming a Shaman King?"

Hao hesitated. This part is normally where everyone else would betray him. Hearing his plan would let these selfish human suddenly become really selfish and inconsiderate, whatever goodness in their minds would be wiped out immediately. And he did not want that to happen to Ann.

He stared at Ann, as Ann stared back curiously. Her mind is so…pure, so beautiful, Hao did not want to ruin it.

"What are you planning to do? Come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about it yet. What sort of King are you going to be?" Ann smiled.

Hao stared back at the sky. They had been talking for quite a while, and Hao found himself slowly opening up to Ann, the first time ever since Mom died, ever since Matamune…

Hao flinched slightly at the memory of Matamune.

Right, if he did not tell Ann about his plan, he would never know Ann's real, ugly side. It's extremely cowardly. Then, when the time comes, he would hurt his heart even more.

"I'm going to exterminate the humans from this planet before they destroy it with their hands."

Okay, it's out, the truth's out, Hao's going to lose one more friend.

Ann blinked while she digested Hao's words. _Oh, that._ She thought.

Hao's eyes widened in surprise at Ann's thoughts.

"You know, normal people would either look at me with shock, or they will suddenly spring up and attack me, but you're…"

Ann sat quietly opposite Hao, staring at the sky.

"Nah, it's just that I had this thought before."

"Oh?" Hao raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, everybody has evil thoughts, even me, and everyone just push it aside and says it's human nature. But I believe it's because humans are evil, they are sinful, and no matter what you try to do, you can never be a totally…good person. So I thought, maybe life would be better without humans." Ann sighed. "But now, after much thinking, I thought, what's life without human? I mean, the Earth is too centred around humans, and I have a feeling that this Earth seems to be made just for us."

Ann shrugged. "Killing all humans might just mean killing the Earth's purpose."

"Hmm…" Hao smiled. "You're quite a thinker. But the Earth is too great a creation to be made just for humans."

Ann chuckled. "But, Asakura-kun, aren't you a human too?"

"No, I am a shaman, and shaman is different from human. They understand the balance of the world, as they have seen the spirits of the dead, and they can create a better world than this. Humans only know how to destroy it. Sooner or later, this world will be destroyed by humans. If we destroy them all now, the world would be saved."

Ann hugged her legs. _It's true that people are destroying the world gradually, but…there must be a better way. I mean, most of them just did it without realising that they are destroying the world, right? It's...too cruel to kill them all... _"Maybe, you just kill all the bad guys?"

"Bad guys? Be more specific please, in my opinion, every human is a bad guy."

"..." Ann frowned. _Why must Asakura-kun insist on killing everyone? Maybe he could just kill the criminals? Wait, that'd be cruel too... Damn it, killing itself is cruel! That's why I'm a vegetarian. Wait... _"We can make all humans into shamans!"

"How?"

"How? I don't know, can't you accomplish anything once you have become Shaman King?"

"I can, but forcing humans, who can think for themselves, to do stuff that they probably don't want, that is actually against the law. But I can if I want to, but sooner or later they will revert back to their original state. 'Vegetarians' will realise how delicious the meat taste like again, 'shaman' will forget about the life force coming out from mother nature and will start destroying Earth."

Ann's frowned even harder. _It's no good..._ "Can't you change human nature or something?"

"That'll be playing god. I will be changing something that God creates and it's not allowed."

_Right...oh this is so irritating. _"Why not you'll just restore the Earth every time it got destroyed?"

"And watch it being destroyed again? In the end humans will rely on this restoration that they just happily destroy Earth as much as they want. This will cause the Earth to be destroyed beyond measure."

... Ann's mind was completely blank. Guess there really is no other solution than annihilating all humans. Hao thought. Though it's really great that I finally found someone I can talk to. Hao smiled.

"Not everyone is bad you know..." Ann said suddenly.

"I know." Hao smiled. You are a good example.

"I believe that people are not that bad. I mean, we do stuff sometimes, but it's most of the time not intentional, you know. If we are taught well, we could be rather nice and not as bad as you think..." Ann trailed off.

Hao stared at Ann's face while she thinks of her next sentence. Her face is so beautiful…

"It's like history. People change gradually. If you want immediate change, something awful would happen, like a revolution. So I think...a long term project is actually better..."

Hmmm, she's quite smart. "So, what sort of long term project?"

"I don't know...how about you try and become the king? Then you control the educational system and everything, and then you can change everything."

Hao thought about it. A whole form of modern government system formed in his brain. "Hmm...Too long, I'd rather be a shaman king." Hao smiled as he watched Ann's sunken face. _I explained so long yet he didn't consider it… _

He laughed. "Yeah, I'll think about it." After all, humans aren't that bad after all, seeing people like Ann exists.

"You should. After all, becoming shaman king just to annihilate all humans is rather wasted. You should do something bigger." Ann smiled.

Wasted? It's a first time someone thought of his idea as wasting the power of the shaman king. This girl really is funny.

"Ann!"

Ann stood up immediately. "Oh no, I have to go now. Bye!"

Hao sat there and said nothing.

Ann stared at him, waiting for him to say his farewell. "It was nice talking to you." And she meant it, from the heart.

"Hope to see you again!" She waved cheerfully as she ran back.

And she meant that too.

It was the first time Hao felt warmth in his heart. Finally, somebody has bothered to listen to him seriously and not think that he was a maniac, and actually understand. She actually understands him and emphatise with him! The most incredible thing of all, she actually had the same mindset as him. Hao thought incredulously.

The next few days, Hao felt like a stalker, but he kept looking at Ann all the time, though he crossed his heart, he will never look at her when she bathed.

Ann was perfect. She was pure in every way he could describe, and she went against Hao's belief on what humans would usually do. Maybe humans aren't that bad after all.

* * *

"Hao!"

Ann was really on time. Hao smiled. "Hey Ann."

Over the past few weeks, Ann had been coming to the same place to meet Hao, and they talked for a lot of stuff. Hao never realised human's life could be so interesting. Ann danced for him, and told him of what she discovered, and they shared secrets and jokes.

He never knew having a human friend can be this much fun.

"Hao, I think my parents were spying the previous days. They seem to know that I was meeting with you everyday." Ann said.

"Oh, really?" Hao said, acting surprised. Of course he knew that her parents were there. But Ann was telling him a wonderful story, and he did not want to disturb her train of thoughts.

"Yeah...They said that they want to meet you..." Ann's face became red.

Hao saw Ann's mind, and knew what it means. "Oh really, why?" He asked, smiling. Sometimes, pretending not to know can be so fun.

He watched as Ann's face grew redder and redder as she thought about it. "Well, they... they want to meet you..." _Oh gosh how do I explain this to him...Why did he have to ask? Stupid mother, why is she so worried about my marriage...? Oh this is so embarrassing..._ "They want to discuss with you...about...about..."

"Yeah? About what?" Hao asked, suppressing his laughter.

"About our marriage!" Ann shouted out. _Oh my gosh what have I done? Why did I have to shout it out like that? I should have remained my grace! Oh no what does Hao think of me now? _She covered her mouth in shock

"Wow, I didn't know we were getting married already." Hao said, pulling Ann closer.

"N...no..." Ann's face turned a deep shade of red. "My parents they...are too worried about my future...so obviously seeing a Patch tribe member like you talking with me...they get excited and all... I...I'm not worthy of someone as high a position as you...I'm just a dancer, a small, insignificant dancer..." _Though I really hope Hao can give up everything for me... I really like him but... I can't be selfish, he definitely won't agree to this marriage...what was mother thinking? I shouldn't give myself too much hope..._

"What are you saying, of course you're worth it." Hao said.

_What? _"What?"

Hao laughed finally. "Look at your face. Why the surprise? Don't you know that I have loved you all along?"

"I...I..." _Hao loves me? He loves me! _Hao smiled at a surge of happiness in her heart. Oh the beautiful, golden, bright colour of pure happiness that most humans have lost it. Hao could feel it rising up in him too.

"Of course I love you, how could you not know?" Hao smiled, and leaned forward, kissing Ann.

Ann blushed. "I...I'll call them over..."

* * *

Hao sat on the grass patch, reading his book. He looked up, sensing Ann's presence.

Things happened so fast, they were married already.

"Yeah, Ann?"

_I'm pregnant._

Those thoughts hit Hao hard on his face.

"You're pregnant?" Hao blurted even before Ann says it.

Ann stared, mouth agape. "How'd you know?"

Hao decided to ignore that question. "I thought I did precautions."

"Well, miracles do happen."

Hao smiled as he pulled Ann close and kissed her. He felt her abdomen. "It's a male."

Ann laughed. "Can't be too sure."

* * *

For the next few months, nine months to be exact, Hao totally forgotten about his big plan on saving the Earth, on being a Shaman King, on annihilating all humans. It were all pushed to the back of his mind. In a point of time, he totally just forgot it ever existed.

His entire mind was on Ann, and their baby.

Their baby boy.

He had no idea, but there is this feeling generated inside him that he can't describe; proud, happiness…and a bit excited…

Was this the feeling of all parents? Did Mom feel this way too? He stared at Ann. Did Mom think like her too?

Life suddenly seems so much happier, more meaningful. It was so beautiful now with Ann by his side, that he did not feel any need to carry out his plan. After all, living is such a wonder.

Life is a miracle.

Millions of sperm rushed to fertilise that one egg, and only that one, the particular one managed to do it. It's a miracle how that tiny, puny thing's victory matters so much. The fertilised egg plants itself in the mother's womb. Hao felt Ann's stomach. He can feel kicks. It's a miracle how a small, insignificant egg can produce so much, millions of millions of cells, just in that womb.

Ann. It's a miracle that Ann exists. There is so many possibilities of personality that Ann could have, and it's that particular genes that she inherited. Generations of generations of human coupling, millions and billions of cells creating life. Somehow, it is such a miracle that two people can meet amongst tens of thousand of people, and got together, and only you, Ann, emerged.

And it's such a miracle meeting you.

Hao leaned forward to kiss the sleeping Ann.

Goodnight, Ann.

* * *

Hao clutched his hands, as he heard Ann crying next door.

He was not allowed in, because it's not appropriate. Even though with his skills, he can still know everything, but he wants to personally witness it. He wants to comfort Ann, relieve of her pain…

A mother risked so much, endured so much for her child… Mom…

"Uwahh! Uwah!"

The boy is out.

He charged into the room. Ann was lying on the bed, sweating and huffing crazily.

She forced out a smile. "It's really a boy, Hao…"

Hao took the baby, and stared at it. He had seen so many babies, but it was the first time, he felt so much…happiness over a baby.

The baby, is so beautiful, just like his mother.

Maybe, humans aren't that horrible after all...

* * *

"Shut up, Mom! It's my life; I get to do what I want to do!"

Haru shouted, as he ran off the house.

"Haru!" Ann shouted. "Haru, come back!" Ann stared at the door helplessly. _Haru, Mommy__ didn't mean it that way. It may sound harsh but...it's good intention. You have to stop doing this if you want to grow up as a better person. Mom knows best, Haru…_

That Haru, he was so pure when he first came. So pure and innocent, so beautiful, so lovely. But in just mere nine years, he changed that much. Hao had watched him change, watched how his heart immediately gets dirtied by just a mere few seconds with that guy's son. Guess humans will always be humans. They always seem to pick up the horrible stuff and get their soul dirtied especially easily, no matter how they are taught.

Hao looked around. They had had three more kids. And all of them, every single one of them, in just three years time had learnt to be selfish, and inconsiderate, despicable, horrid, every one of them! Every one of the human's unforgivable sins, they were all picked up!

None of them were like Ann. Ann's soul was just so clean, why didn't the children inherit her character? Why didn't they get influenced or something? They were so meddlesome, so indecisive, so insincere, so egocentric!

"Hao, is something wrong?" Ann asked, worried.

"Nothing." He said.

Maybe Ann is really the only one, the only kind soul among every human. After her, there is no more. After all, miracles only happen once. The rest of the human population is as abhorrent as ever. The times spent with Ann just blinded his eyes.

But after all these, Hao have seen it, the true face of human nature, grown from young. He is much more convinced than usual that humans are evil. They are all evil, except Ann.

"Hao, really, tell me, what happened?" Ann asked.

Hao stared at her. He had had enough of this. He need to leave. He need to finally execute the plan that he thought up. He grabbed Ann and kissed her fiercely.

Ann tasted so good, every part of her is absolutely wonderful...

"Hao?" Ann said, panting, when he released her.

"I'm leaving, Ann, to carry out my plans. I'm not going to waste any more time now." He said.

"What?"

Ann stared in shock, as Hao pecked her lips for the last time, and walked out of the door. Just like Haru, he left.

Hao left just like that.

And he never came back.

* * *

"I shouldn't have left…" Hao said. Spirit of fire nodded in agreement. "I really shouldn't have… But so many years passed already, I guess it's…way too late." He laughed a bit.

Sigh, I love you Ann…

He stared at Anna. She looked so much like her.

She's with another part of me. I guess this part of me is doomed for punishment, for leaving Ann behind.

Damnit, Yoh, you're so lucky.

* * *

**_End of story! I know it's a bit rushed at the end, I was getting irritated at not being able to post it after writing for so long... I promise I will come by everyday to chage and make it better._**

**_Anyway, please review! :D_**


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